308 communal incidents reported this year

A total of 308 communal incidents were reported in the country in the first six months of 2014 of which 56 have taken place in Uttar Pradesh, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.

Minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju said 51 communal incidents have taken place in Maharashtra till June 2014, 44 communal incidents have taken place in Karnataka, 33 incidents have taken place in Rajasthan, 32 incidents in Bihar and 26 incidents have taken place in Gujarat.

Rijiju said of the 823 communal incidents in 2013, a total of 247 communal incidents had taken place in Uttar Pradesh, 88 in Maharashtra, 84 in Madhya Pradesh, 73 in Karnataka, 68 in Gujarat, 63 in Bihar and 52 in Rajasthan.

The Minister said of the 668 communal incidents that took place in 2012, 118 occurred in Uttar Pradesh, 94 in Maharashtra, 92 in Madhya Pradesh, 69 in Karnataka, 60 in Andhra Pradesh, 57 in Gujarat, 56 in Kerala and 37 in Rajasthan.